The Jason Project: this one program alone can help every school improve their
science, ELA, and math scores, if the teachers will work together to utilize ALL
the resources available through the websites. It is especially useful and
effective for grades 4-8. Take my word, as a 26-year veteran of the classroom.
Best of luck to you schools with F's. OH, yes -- and stop trying to teach
in TWO languages. English. We speak English in American classrooms, unless you
sign up to learn a "foreign" language.

Utah's schools: tens of thousands of students, thousands of employees,
millions of dollars in infrastructure and salaries, myriads of degrees, talents,
abilities and personalities. And all the legislature can concoct as a report is
a single letter grade?

That is so bogus! Public and private
employees get evaluations that comment of various portions of their employment
performance. You take your car in for an oil change and there is a systems
report by the service staff to inform you how your car is performing and to
point your attention to needed service areas.

You send you child to
school and meet periodically with the teacher and get some verbal and sometimes
written information on progress. And all the legislature can come up with is a
single letter grade?

Folks, this is insulting to reason and common
sense. I suggest the legislature spend less time and lobbyist sponsored lunches
and more time on this one.

Once again, this grading system is a great tool for identifying lower class
neighborhoods and schools who cater to troubled youth (most of the schools at
the bottom of the list are alternative schools for troubled youth with poor
family lives and juvenile delinquents), but it really doesn't tell you
anything about the school.

Strider303, is it fair to guess that you have a vested interest in one of the
schools at the bottom of the list?

I can tell you that there is not
a school in Utah that is as low a level, comparable to those in Chicago or
Detroit. At least our teachers can read and for the most part so can the
students.

This grading system is just another tool to help schools
see where they stand in comparison to other Utah schools. The last grading
system was far to complicated to make any sense of. Maybe this can be looked at
as a little incentive to look for improvement?

It could also help
parents looking for a private school find one that makes the grade?